Limited movie runs: 'The Baxter,' 'Reel Paradise' and more

Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, September 15, 2005

THE BAXTER

"Did you ever wonder about the guy left at the altar?" asks a fastidiously gawky
Michael Showalter
. In the vernacular of writer/director/star Showalter's fumbling attempt at an old-fashioned romantic comedy in modern dress, the Baxter is a safe, stiff, dull guy fated to lose the girl to the exciting, dashing, unpredictable hero. That's Showalter's character all over, an accountant with a mealy smile, fussy manner and annoying way of overenunciating every syllable of his maddening small talk. He's a sweet guy, sure, but he has all the romance and personality of a hot-water bottle, and so does the film, despite a flirtatious

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Elizabeth Banks
as his fiery fiancee and
Michelle Williams
as the adorable, eccentric temp with a taste for second-hand vintage fashions. There's no comic spark under Showalter's drab direction, and no good argument in the film why we should ever wonder about the guy left at the altar.

OR (MY TREASURE)

Winner of the Camera d'Or at Cannes in 2004, Keren Yedaya's drama follows the teenage daughter of a compulsive Tel Aviv prostitute. Ambitious and tireless, Or (Dana Ivgy) plays the adult in the household, the exact opposite of her mother, who Or has to lock indoors to stop her from streetwalking. Yet her sense of self-respect comes directly from her self-destructive mother. Sex is not just an escape for Or, whose reputation makes her an easy target for the oversexed boys (much to the dismay of her adoring boyfriend). As she crumbles under her overburdened life of work, school and responsibility, she turns to sex for her self-image. Yedaya is respectful and sensitive of everyone in Or's life and creates a beautiful, complex and rich relationship between mother and daughter, loving and protective of each other, but not of themselves. (Sean Axmaker)

GRADE: B+

At Grand Illusion today through Friday. In Hebrew with English subtitles. 100 minutes. No rating, features foul language, nudity and sexual situations.

REEL PARADISE

The premise of this documentary could hardly sound more magical. It tells the story of noted American indie film producer's rep and guru
John Pierson
, who moved with his family to Fiji and spent a year showing free Hollywood movies to the natives of the island of Taveuni. But, as it turns out, Pierson is a high-powered egotist with appalling tastes and a great-white-father complex, and his whiny family is about as much fun as fingernails on a blackboard. Moreover, since director
Steve James
("Hoop Dreams") only filmed the last month of Pierson's adventure in paradise, we have to watch people talking about their culture clashes and privileged moments of the previous 11 months instead of actually seeing them.
(William Arnold)

GRADE: D

At the Varsity today through Thursday. 110 minutes. Rated R for language, including sexual references and brief crude humor.